I get it NO ONE likes going to the dentist (sorry for any dentist friends I have!) But seriously, does anyone? I hate it.
But you know what is worse than going to the dentist myself? Taking MY KIDS to the dentist. I honestly think that taking my poor kiddo (who has Down Syndrome, Autism, and a slew of other sensory processing issues) is one of the worst forms of torture, for him AND for me. I try my best. I use all the anti-anxiety essential oils (on us both) I take his weighted lap pad and have Wiggles on his ipad but we still end up with me in a full body hold on top of the weighted lap pad. The only reason they can even clean his teeth is because he is screaming like a mad man (which means his mouth is WIDE open)
And PLEASE KNOW this is NO REFLECTION on our dentist SHE ROCKS – her entire staff is AMAZING. This is just the tough stuff that comes along with life with special needs. As soon as he was done and out of that chair he was ALL SMILES – bopping around the room GIGGLING. I sort of wanted to wring his neck but I didn’t. I can’t even begin to put myself in his shoes – what a trip to the dentist might feel like to him. I honestly do think it IS TORTURE to him. I read the book “The Reason I Jump” which was written by a kiddo with autism and he writes of simple things like certain smells physically hurting him – a trip to the dentist…..forget it! I think of the actual trauma and it makes me so sad. So, the giggles afterwards are welcomed with open arms – even though I was sweating – literally SWEATING from the wrestling match I just endured with my son.
Brookie was up second – PIECE OF CAKE. She is always a ROCKSTAR at the dentist – especially when compared to her little brother. Afterall – she just spent the last fifteen minutes in the waiting room laughing at her bother who was, from the sounds of it indeed getting tortured – his tears and suffering make her giggle (what a nice big sis, right?!?)
SOOOO halfway through the cleaning she starts to gag on the toothpaste – gagging – then choking. They reach for the suction (just as I was saying – maybe get some suction) and BOOM I think Brookie twitched right as they put in the suction and triggered her gag reflex – PUKE EVERYWHERE. Poor Girl – I guess the good thing was they were ALREADY suctioning so that was a plus. But, Brookie was covered, her chair was covered (they do her cleaning in her wheelchair for her comfort – like I said, they are AWESOME) Thankfully her dentist showed up with a super cute new “Auburn Pediatric Dentistry” t-shirt and of course a brand new PINK toothbrush. The girl deserves a medal along with those goodies I think – I swear nothing is ever easy for this kid. Through it all – she is smiling – her BEAUTIFUL PEARLY WHITE SMILE :)
The bad thing….we still had to head to the lab for a blood draw after all of this. Brooklyn’s latest lab work showed anemia…..but that my friends we will save for another blog post.
now…..is it bedtime yet????
Well that was a terrible day, but you got through it. It’s over!!! I hear you about the sweating!! When I take Sarah to the dentist, I bring our toothpaste(theirs makes her gaggy) and they use a teeny little bit because she can’t spit it out. Mostly we are there for the picking of the tartar. I don’t let them use the water squirter or the suction(again gaggy, coughing etc). They eyeball and poke each tooth and do a little scraping. They run their rotary toothbrush over each tooth, especially the 2 front ones. That’s pretty much it. I’m not sure why I told you all this, maybe some little detail will sound helpful, but probably not, haha.
I dread having a tooth out – I never have, you know, epcext under GA. Husband is indeed a brave boy. Perhaps if he puts it under his pillow, the tooth fairy will come.Tell him she doesn’t visit people who don’t do as they’re told. And I hope you have an old silver sixpence somewhere! LOL!
I’m high functioning autistic, and dental visits are awful for me too! It would be so much worse if I had communication issues on top of that!
It’s excruciatingly painful, the taste of the cleaning stuff mixed with blood and plaque is horrible, and the scrub against my teeth is like nails on chalkboard. Plus imagining what they’re doing freaks me out. What works for me is to have me able to take a break whenever I need to, squeeze the life out of one of my parents’ hands and have my brother distracting me. But if I didn’t understand why it was necessary, or couldn’t talk to say when I need a break or what my family should do…